Moscorovius, Hieronymus (d. 1625)

Hieronymus Moscorovius (Hieronim Moskorzewski) was an elder of the Polish Brethren (Socianians) in Rakov, Poland, who in 1612 together with Valentinus Smalcius, a preacher of this group, wrote a letter to the (Frisian) Mennonite congregation of Danzig, Prussia, in which they asked to arrange a union between the Mennonites and the Polish Brethren. Other letters followed, insisting on the union. There were— so they said—differences between both groups: the Polish Brethren did not strictly reject the swearing of oaths, but there were many principles on which they agreed: both the Brethren and the Mennonites were opposed to infant baptism and bearing arms; both meant to be a church of believers, using the ban; both laid much stress on Christian morals. Moscorovius repeatedly insisted on holding a meeting to discuss the problem. This meeting, however, was never held, because the Mennonites did not wish to unite with the Brethren. The leaders of the Danzig Mennonite congregations wrote a number of letters to Dutch Mennonite leaders, Hans de Ries and Reinier Wybrands, asking their advice and their coming in person if necessary. This, however, did not happen. In 1628 the Polish Brethren were suppressed by order of the Polish government.